100 California schools to host vaccine clinics for kids 5-11 pending approval, according to report
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- The White house has told states to get ready and California is doing just that. The state is making plans to bring the vaccine right here to where the kids are to their schools.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 100 schools will host vaccine clinics across the state once the shots are approved for children under 12.
The White House has purchased 65 million pediatric doses and told the states to be ready to go by the beginning of November, that is two and half weeks away.
RELATED: California to require eligible students in public, private schools be vaccinated against COVID-19
Governor Gavin Newsom has already issued a mandate saying this vaccine will be required for school children once it has full FDA approval. And they plan to bring the vaccine to the kids and set up these school clinics.
But it will be available elsewhere - the White House will be sending pediatric vaccine to several locations including pediatricians, hospitals and pharmacies to make sure it is easy to get-and it will be free.
VIDEO: Bay Area counties getting ready to vaccinate kids aged 5-11
While some things will look the same for the vaccine's rollout for kids, others will be a little different.
"So the dose for an adult is 30 micrograms, this is a 10 microgram dose," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.
Gandhi says parents can rest assured that clinical trials have shown Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is extremely safe for children.
"There were no major adverse effects in those who got the 10 microgram dose," she said.
RELATED: Pfizer officially asks FDA to greenlight vaccine for kids ages 5-11
While there was a surge of demand when adults became eligible to be vaccinated last winter, Gandhi says this time there's enough supply to keep up.
But it's not just the state that is getting ready, local counties here in the Bay Area say they too are preparing.
"Once the federal government has finished the approval process, with as much access as is possible, including large healthcare systems, commercial pharmacies, our county operated mass vaccination sites, as well as private, individual pediatrician offices," said Dr. Jennifer Tong, of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
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Bay Area health officials say they're ready to get kids vaccinated either by sites set up at schools, at their pediatrician's office, or other ways.
And with the vaccine still our most effective tool to ending the pandemic, they're urging parents to get their kids jabbed, even if they've already had the virus.
"It actually matures your T-cells. Why is that important? You actually want a long-lasting, durable response, especially if you're a child. Because if you're a child you have a long time ahead of you," Gandhi said.
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